The U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are taking action to make it easier for union bosses to force non-union plants to organize. This flies in the face of economic reality, although it does fit nicely with Obama's ideology and his re-election campaign strategy.

International trade is a fact of life, and as much as the unions hate the fact, they are forced to compete with workers in other nations. Those foreign workers are willing to work at wage rates far below what the unions view as "fair" (which in their case translates to "wages higher than non-union workers"). The unions' drive to organize more and more workers, and thereby artificially force wage levels upward, does nothing but put a brake on domestic economic growth and retard job-creation -- and without those jobs, ultimately, overall domestic incomes will be reduced.

In addition, when overall jobs are lost, those remaining to be filled tend to pay lower wages. It's a simple supply-versus-demand equation. When there are more unemployed people than there are unfilled job openings, employers are then able to bid down their wage scales.

What the union leaders (and the Obama administration) seem too short-sighted to realize is that this policy, and the resulting overall reduction in jobs and domestic wages, will also impede the ability of Americans to buy domestically produced goods when said goods are sold at costs driven by increased wage levels not moderated by the recognition of competition for those very jobs.

So in their effort to "help" unions, the Department of Labor and the NLRB will hobble our economy.